(Photo Courtesy Las Vegas Review)
LAS VEGAS — Jacob Berry’s walk-off home run that gave Jacksonville a dramatic 8-7 victory over Las Vegas in the Triple-A title game at Las Vegas Ballpark Saturday night. The Miami Marlins selected Berry with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 Draft.
“I mean, it can go really good and really bad,” he said. “I’ve had both ends of it this year, but I just kept grinding.”
Jacksonville jumped out to an early lead in the third on two-run homers by Jack Winkler and MLB’s No. 71 overall prospect Joe Mack. Jacksonville remained in the driver’s seat until the Aviators batted in the ninth.
“To watch the struggles he went through early in his career, to step up to that first-round [expectation], he met it tonight,” Jumbo Shrimp manager David Carpenter said. “And I hope people take notice.”
After three straight Las Vegas batters reached in the final frame — including rehabbing A’s outfielder Denzel Clarke — Jacksonville brought in Robby Snelling out of the bullpen. Four days after pitching in Game 1 of the International League Finals, the No. 8 LHP prospect was making his first career relief appearance.
Snelling allowed a walk, then forced a groundout, putting the Jumbo Shrimp two outs from the championship. Then Bryan Lavastida stepped up and completely flipped the script
The 26-year-old first baseman crushed a three-run homer to right-center field to give the Aviators the lead. Lavastida — who had his own roller-coaster season after the Astros released him in August and the A’s picked him up.
“You always look up at the scoreboard in these types of games,” Berry said. “And you’re worried about what’s on the board at the end of the game.”
But the LSU product also had some first pitch magic up his sleeve. After Winkler singled and Victor Mesa Jr. struck out, Berry drilled a 97.9 mph offering 429 feet over the bullpen in right-center. He had eight homers in 123 games during the regular season.
The Jacksonville dugout flooded onto the field as Berry circled the bases. The team’s relief pitchers were pouring out of the bullpen before the homer even touched the ground. The game — and the season — ended with euphoria and relief, as well as the Jumbo Shrimp’s second championship of the week.
“I don’t know if you can really put into words how much all of these guys mean, and the work that they put in from day one,” Carpenter said. “But to watch guys that have been with us the entire time — the Jacob Berrys, the Jack Winklers, those types of guys — to be able to step up in a big game like this, was incredible.”
Berry started off slow this season, slashing .195/.302/.326 in the first half. But he kept grinding and soon he realized, “You’re only as good as your next day.” With that in mind, the 24-year-old improved just about every aspect of his game in the second half, posting a .319/.390/.454 slash line to close out the regular season.
“It felt like it just kind of got better as the year went along,” Berry said. “And hopefully I can take that into next year.”
Morgan McSweeney got the start for the Jumbo Shrimp, just three months after the Marlins signed him out of indy ball. The 28-year-old right-hander worked around two hits with a strikeout over two scoreless frames. McSweeney was at the 2023 Triple-A National Championship here in Las Vegas as part of the Orioles’ Norfolk roster, though he did not enter the game.
Carpenter led Jacksonville to its first Triple-A crown in his first season of affiliated baseball after managing in the MLB Draft League the past two years. The 40-year-old was a Triple-A reliever only six years ago.
The club previously won an International League title in 1968 when there was no Triple-A title game. The Jumbo Shrimp then won six Double-A Southern League titles (as the Suns) before returning to the Minors’ highest level in 2021. This was the first time a Marlins affiliate competed for the Triple-A crown.
